This simple yet luxurious dish would certainly repulse any vegan or observer of religious dietary restrictions. For us heathen hog-gobblers, however, this Italian delicacy of pork roast braised in milk is pure bliss. The garlic-studded pork simmers until gratifyingly tender in rosemary-laced milk, which cooks down to a nut-colored, exquisitely creamy sauce. Although this dish, plenty for four to six people, warms the belly and soul on chilly nights, I would happily serve this for a summer lunch, as an alternative to vitello tonnato or a chicken fricassee, as it boasts all the succulence of a winter stew yet sidesteps wearying heaviness.
One or two days before you serve the dish, make around 15-20 incisions spaced evenly all over a boneless pork rib roast, about 2 ½ to 3 pounds, and insert slivers of garlic sliced lengthwise. Place the meat into a dish just large enough to hold the roast and add enough dry white vermouth to come about halfway up the meat. Cover, refrigerate, and turn the roast halfway through the marination time so that each half spends an equal amount of time in contact with the booze bath.
About 2 ½ hours before serving, remove the roast from the marinade, which has done its job and can be poured out. Wipe the roast dry and sprinkle all over with flour. Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a 5-quart enameled dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted completely and the pan is good and hot, brown the meat on all sides, starting with the fat side down. Remove the roast and pour the fat from the pan. Season the roast with plenty of salt and pepper and return to the pan with 2-3 sprigs rosemary, one bay leaf, a few gratings of nutmeg, and enough whole milk--full-fat milk is required here--to submerge about three-fourths of the roast. Bring to a boil and then adjust the heat to a healthy simmer. Place the lid slightly askew and simmer, turning the roast every 20 minutes or so, until the meat is tender, yielding easily to a sharp knife.
Remove the roast to a plate and tent with foil. Then reduce the rather unappealing, clumpy sauce over medium-high heat until the sauce darkens to a light caramel hue. Remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to puree the sauce--a seamlessly velvet, lump-free cream sauce is not the goal here, so don't work too hard on this step. Slice the roast into serving pieces and either arrange the slices on a platter over which you pour the sauce, or return the meat to the pot, gently mixing the pork and sauce, for a more rustic presentation.
